Hellas Verona and Juventus share the spoils after a 1-1 draw at the Stadio MarcÁntonio Bentegodi.
Juventus suffered a huge dent in their title challenge after they were held to a 1-1 stalemate by Hellas Verona on Saturday night.
A poor clearance from Silvestri in the 1st minute almost led to the opening goal for Juventus, but Aaron Ramsey’s shot was off target by a whisker. Juventus frequented Verona’s box in the opening 10 minutes but lacked the final ball. Verona almost took the lead from a corner but the header from skipper Davide Faraoni was brilliantly saved by Wojciech Szczesny.
Four minutes after the restart, Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for the Bianconeri with a calm finish past Verona’s goalkeeper, after some neat interplay between Ramsey and Federico Chiesa, with the latter finding the run of Ronaldo.
It took the Gialloblu 23 minutes to create their first opportunity of the second half after a fine passage of play between Miguel Veloso and Darko Lazovic, with the latter providing the cross for Antonin Barak to head home the equalizer for Ivan Juric’s men in the 78th minute.
Andrea Pirlo will be disappointed with his team’s performance after dominating most part of the match, as they failed to close the gap to league leaders Inter Milan. Let us take a look at how Pirlo’s men fared.
? Out of a possible 12 points available in February.
Juve pick up 7 points.
Winning 2 drawing 1 losing 1 pic.twitter.com/X136s0TOk2— JuveFC (@juvefcdotcom) February 27, 2021
Wojciech Szczesny: 7/10
Made a brilliant save in the 6th minute from Faraoni’s close-range header. Was faultless for the equalizer. Pulled off another exceptional save from Lazovic’s powerful shot in the 85th minute to save his team from losing 2-1. His distribution was could have been better.
Merih Demiral: 5/10
His passing radar was off in the opening half. Was caught ball watching for the equalizer. Not a good performance from the Turkish centre half.
Matthijs de Ligt: /10
Mistimed a few tackles early on in the game. Although he did make a couple of good interceptions, he was constantly troubled by Kevin Lasagna’s pace and movement.
Alex Sandro: 6/10
The captain got forward pretty often from his left centre-back role and defended well against Barak, but could have done better when the Czech forward outjumped him to score the equalizer.
Federico Chiesa: 7.5/10
Chiesa assisted Ronaldo for the first time this season so he had to show out with Ronaldo's celebration ? pic.twitter.com/lntR4iF6zS
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 27, 2021
Playing as a right wing-back, the Italian did well to create space in the opposition box to take a shot in the 13th minute but hit it straight at the keeper. Assisted Ronaldo with a squared pass for the opening goal. One of the best performers for the Bianconeri on the pitch alongside Ronaldo. Subbed for Di Pardo in the 86th minute.
Rodrigo Bentancur: 6.5/10
His distribution was neat and he read the game well to stop any opposition counter-attacks. However, he could not do much to sway the result in his team’s favour.
Adrien Rabiot: 4.5/10
Was all over the pitch as he struggled to influence the game. He did not make a single positive contribution to the team. His decision-making was terrible when in possession.
I've tried to defend Bentancur and Rabiot many times, but it's time to change. ?
— Max Statman (@emaxstatman) February 27, 2021
Aaron Ramsey: 7/10
Almost scored the opening goal in the first minute after a poor clearance by Silvestri but scuffed his shot wide. Was instrumental in creating the opening goal with a delightful pass to find the assist-maker Chiesa. Subbed for Weston McKennie in the 68th minute.
Federico Bernardeschi: 4/10
He is simply not good enough for Juventus. Played in an unfamiliar left wing-back role and really struggled to get going. Failed to offer any output in defence or attack.
Dejan Kulusevski: 5/10
Worked really hard to create opportunities for his team but was easily subdued by Verona’s defence. Not the kind of performance we have come to expect of the Swede.
Cristiano Ronaldo: 7.5/10
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 47 goals in his last 47 Serie A matches ? pic.twitter.com/zcUUXU6BAv
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 27, 2021
Suffered from a lack of service from his teammates, as he rarely got on the ball in the first half. But it took him only four minutes in the second half to break the deadlock. Looked frustrated with the shortage of chances created, as Juventus looked for the winning goal in the second half.
Substitutes
Weston McKennie: 5/10
Came on for Ramsey in the 68th minute, did not influence the proceedings at all.
Alessandro Di Pardo: N/A
Brought in for Chiesa in the 86th minute.
